Window air conditioner



States The present invention relates to improvements in air conditioners and, more specifically, to so-called room air conditioners which are placed on a window of a room or the like to cool and air-condition the interior of the room. One of the problems of every air conditioning device is the reduction of the noise caused by the compressor which forces a refrigerant through the coils of a heat exchanger.

One object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which attains the goal of noise reduction or noise elimination not by the customary means of employing noise deadening materials, or enclosing a compressor within a sound-proof compartment, or other comparatively expansive means, but which reduces the compressor noise within a room to a minimum by the simple arrangement of the compressor outside of the room to be air conditioned, yet allowing it to remain a part of a complete unit which can be attached to a window in the hitherto usual manner.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which allows the ducts between the heat exchanger and the compressor as well as the expansion valve and the receiver member for the refrigerant to be comparatively short, so as to attain a high degree of efficiency of the air conditioner.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which can be attached easily to a window and which can be safely secured thereto in a comparatively simple manner, and which can be adjusted easily so that the cooled air will be blown into a room either horizontally or as an upwardly or downwardly inclined stream of air.

Yet still another object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which is comparatively simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture and which is well adapted for being produced by mass production processes from standard size eiemerits and materials.

With the foregoing and other objects which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangements of parts of the embodiment disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing 1 have set forth an illustrative embodiment of my invention.

In said drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a preferred embodiment of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 33 of FIG. 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawing the numeral 1 denotes a longitudinal casing which may be circular in cross-section for extending it through an aperture in a wall, or which may be square or rectangular as shown, having a bottom portion 2, a top portion 3 and side portions 4 and 5. Rows of perforations 11 and 12 are provided in the walls of the casing l. A first heat exchanger 15 is mounted within the casing l and preferably within or adjacent the end portion 7 thereof, and a compressor 17 is secured to the Uif 3,237,423 Patented Mar. 1, 1966 bottom portion 2 within the casing 1, near the heat exchanger 15. On one end of a shaft 21, which is rotatably extended through the compressor 17, is mounted a first blower rotor 22 or any other suitable means for forcing air into the portion 7 of the casing 1 and out of the slots 11 as well as through the coils of the heat exchanger 15. Said coils are stationary but are preferably extended into the rotor 22. On the other end of the shaft 21 is mounted a disengageable coupling or a clutch 23, which is designed for detachably connecting the moving elements of the compressor 17 to the shaft 21. An electric motor 30, which also is mounted on the bottom 2 of the casing 1, drives the shaft 21 as well as a second blower rotor 31, into which is extended a stationary coil of a second heat exchanger 32.

A receiver member 34- is connected to the heat exchanger 15 by means of a tubing 35, and an expansion valve 37 is connected to the receiver member 34 by means of a short tubing 40. A pipe portion 41 connects the expansion valve 37 to one end of the coil of the second heat exchanger 32, and a conduit 42 connects the other end of the coil of the heat exchanger 32 to the compressor 17.

The casing 1 is to be installed in such a manner that the compressor 17 and the heat exchanger 15 are outside of a window 50, whereas the cooled second heat exchanger 32 is inside the room that is to be air-conditioned. While various means of attaching the air conditioner to a window may be used, I prefer to support the same by means of a plate 51, which is hinged to the casing 1 at 54 and which may be adjusted in any desired angular position relatively to the casing l by means of one or more set screws 55. This arrangement allows the casing it to be mounted in a horizontal position, as shown in FIG. 3, by adjusting the plate 51 to the inclination of a window sill 57 or the like, and it also allows to incline the casing l in such a manner that cool air is driven by the blower 31 at various angles through the openings 12 into a room to be air conditioned. A pair of angular bracket members 60 having upright portions 61 adapted for engaging both sides of the window 50 are secured to the top wall portion 3 of the casing l by means of screw bolts 62 extended through longitudinal slots 63 in horizontal portions of the member 60.

When the compressor 17, which is a rotary pump, or the like, is in operation, a refrigerant such as sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, methyl chloride, or the like, is forced as a low-pressure vapor into the condenser or heat exchanger '15 from the coil 32 through a pipe :2, the compressor 17, and a pipe 67, which connects the outlet of the compressor 17 to the heat exchanger 1'5, where the refrigerant is liquefied; then the liquefied refrigerant passes through the tubing 35 into the receiver member 34 and from there through the pipe 41 to the expansion valve 37, where it is evaporated, and the vapor passes through the pipe 41 into the coils 3'2, cooling the same and renewing the aforementioned cycle.

Since, according to the present invenition, the compressor 17 is located in a portion of the device which is extended far beyond the outer side of a window 50 or of an outside wall, any noises resulting from the operation of the compressor 17 are audible only at the outer side and not within the room itself.

Inasmuch as the shaft 21 is rotatably extended through the compressor 17, as stated hereinbefore see column 2 lines 2, 3, and inasmuch as the clutch 23 is designed for detachably connecting the moving parts of the compressor 17 to the shaft 21, as also stated above see column 2 lines 9, l0 and 11 it will be obvious that if the clutch 23 is disengaged the moving parts of the compressor 17 are not driven by the shaft 21, but only the blower rotors 22 and 31 are driven. Air receiving triangular air passage elements 70 and 71 preferably are mounted within the casing 1 adjacent the blower rotors 22 and 31 respectively. The triangular air passage element 70 is connected to a first air duct 72 that terminates into the room, and the triangular air passage element 71 is connected to a second air duct 73 that terminates outside of the room. A throttle 74 is pivotally mounted in the air duct 73 at 75, and a shutter 77 is hinged to the top 3 of the casing 1 at 8% and is adapted for closing the slots 12. A lever 82 mounted on the pivot of the throttle 74 is connected to the shutter 77 by any suitable means, for instance by means of a link member 81, so that when the shutter 77 is open, the throttle 74 will be closed automatically, or vice versa. Moreover, I prefer to provide means for automatically closing the air conduit 72 when the slots 11 are open, and vice versa. This may be accomplished, for instance, by slidably attaching to the inner side of the top 3 of the casing 1 a flat member 83 that is substantially L-shaped and has at one end a widened portion 84, a section of which is provided with slots 85 (FIG. 3) of the same size and arrangement as the slots 11 in the casing 1, while its other end is bent angularly to form a shutter 87. If the member 83 is in the position shown in full lines the slots 11 are open and the air conduit 72 is closed; if the member 83 is pushed into the position indicated by dash-and-dotted lines in FIGS. 1 and 3, the slots 11 are closed and the air conduit 72 is open.

The clutch 23 can be operated by any suitable means,

' for instance by means of a fork member 90 engaging an annular groove in a portion of the clutch 23 and being secured to a shaft 91 that is rotatably mounted on the casing 1. A lever 92 is secured to the shaft 91 and is hinged to a connecting rod 93, which is extended beyond the casing 1 into the room. If the coupling 23 is disengaged, so that the compressor 17 does not operate, outside air will be forced by the blower rotor 22 through the air duct 72 into the room, thereby the member 83 being in the position indicated by dash-and-dotted lines; and room air will be forced by the blower rotor 31 through the air duct 73 out of the room. The conduit 72 may be extended into any suitable portion of the room for accomplishing a good ventilation.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claim is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is:

In an air conditioner having a heat exchange element in fluid flow communication with a space to be conditioned and a heat dissipating element in fluid flow communication with the atmosphere outside the space to be conditioned, a casing having a top, bottom and side walls, the top wall having oppositely disposed rows of slots, said casing containing in one end portion said heat dissipating element and in the other end portion said heat exchange element, a first blower having a cup-shaped air impeller rotor into which said heat exchanger is extended, a second blower having a cup-shaped air impeller rotor into which said heat dissipating element is extended, a shaft having end portions to which said blower rotors are secured, a motor driving said shaft, a compressor for the air conditioning unit intermediate said blowers through which said shaft is rotatably extended, clutch means interposed between said motor and said compressor, a first duct in said casing extending into the room to be cooled, a second duct in said casing extending outside of the room, triangular air passage elements mounted in said casing adjacent said blower rotors respectively, each of said triangular air passage elements being connected to said respective ducts, a throttle pivotally mounted in said second duct, a shutter hingedly mounted on the top wall of said casing above said slots, a link member and a lever operatively connecting said shutter and said throttle, for closing said shutter when said throttle is opened, means closing said first air duct when said slots are open, said means comprising an L-shaped flat member having a widened section provided with openings corresponding in size to said slots in the top wall of the casing, said L-shap-ed flat member having an angular portion forming a shutter, a plate hinged to the bottom portion of said casing and adapted for resting upon a window sill, and a single set screw mounted on said plate and engaging the bottom portion of said casing for spacing the plate angularly from the casing, said clutch means comprising a member having an annular groove, a fork member engaging in said annular groove, a pivot shaft for pivoting said fork, rotatably mounted in said casing, a lever secured to said pivot, a rod secured to said lever and extending outwardly of said casing, said clutch means being operable to disengage said shaft from said compressor.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 305,417 9/1884 Berrenberg 192-66 1,156,445 10/1915 Stull 192-66 2,033,983 3/1936 Greenwald 62-429 2,054,350 9/1936 Welland 62-429 2,115,294 4/1938 Woodruif 62-429 2,278,989 4/ 1942 Gruitch 62-262 2,391,859 1/1946 Babcock 62-262 2,452,264 10/ 1948 Russell 236-35 2,475,841 7/1949 Jones 62-429 2,549,547 4/1951 Trask 62-262 2,63 8,755 5/1953 Borgered 62-262 2,673,074 3/1954 Dailey 62-426 2,826,048 3/ 1958 Wheeler 62-262 3,059,447 10/ 1962 Brugler 62-429 3,062,346 11/1962 Sharpe 192-66 WILLIAM J. WYE, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Examiner. 

